N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[daveonbass]

bertoni: good point...you managed to summarize what took me a full page to try and say. (I felt like I was gonna get banned)

 

[TheFishMan65]

Thanks Dave. Given that (and it was I thought) you would hope they know what they are buying and packaging. And therefore should know what to tell you. So until they cut him free then he should follow what they say. Although frustrating I appreciate hearing what is happening. At the least it tells me what I might try if they don't work for me.

If, when they give up I hope Dave can afford to try some of the suggestions made here and post his results. From what I remeber reading Dave has said they don't work for him. He would like them to work for him. And although perhaps close he is it not quite ready to call them a hoax.

The only issue with Dave is that he does not have a lot of money (i'm in your boat). He is trying to follow the direction, but to date none have worked for him.

 

[sirreal63]

The only thing I can see from dosing a little VSV would be to stimulate the bacteria. It is easily dissolved and may help fuel the bacteria. It may not help, but if it doesn't help then we know that it is not a bacteria problem and some other one exists. It is a process of elimination and should have no ill effects on the tank.

 

[bertoni]

Well, the pellets are supposed to be a carbon source, which is what vinegar is adding. If the vinegar is needed, the pellets aren't doing what they're supposed to do, which is possible, but would be strange.

 

[sirreal63]

I tend to agree but something is limiting the effectiveness of the pellets in his tank, and there is nothing to lose by helping the bacteria along.

 

[izzy123]

+1 to jlinzmaier



It isn't a jump start that is needed but a shift in dominant bacterial species. The majority of tanks do not need to be dosed with the correct bacteria as they have good a bacterial balance, but a few people do have problems and this has also been seen with other types of carbon dosing. By dosing bacteria in these circumstances has helped change and improve the balance of bacteria in there systems.

Did you dose organic carbon for the removal of nitrate and phosphate in your freshwater system? Its usually the opposite when you have plants involved, plus you tend not to try to acheive an ULNS in freshwater systems is all I'm getting at.

Sorry it took so long to react, but here goes.

Look, I'm not even half as smart as most of the people over here, I'm just a guy who fixes cars for a living.....
My expertiece gets called upon when people try to hug a tree or something with their car

But, how do you know that you are putting the "right" bacteria in your tank?
Do they all wear nametags when you look at them under a microscope?

I was planning on ranting on and on, but I decided I'm not contrubting much other than background noise that nobody is interested in....... :worried:

As I already stated, what's up with the rest of you guys, nothing to report?....

Good or bad? :crazy1:

Thanks

Ivan

 

[philbo32]

Hi Ivan

But, how do you know that you are putting the "right" bacteria in your tank?
I grow and dose my own marine bacteria grown in fermenters and know that the majority I dose are denitrifying.
A lot of people have used MB7 and zeobak and there are others, which have helped to reduce nitrate and phosphate in tanks.

Do they all wear nametags when you look at them under a microscope?
lol, you can get a rough idea of what types of bacteria you have by there shape under a microscope, but RNA and DNA analysis is required for more accurate identification using expensive equipment. The other method of identification is via plating at different temperatures and then working out if they are gram positive or gram negative. Again a costly process that isn't as accurate as the DNA method.

As I already stated, what's up with the rest of you guys, nothing to report?....

They work for me so far, but I'm using DIY biopellets so I know exactly whats in them.

 

[izzy123]

Hi Ivan

But, how do you know that you are putting the "right" bacteria in your tank?
I grow and dose my own marine bacteria grown in fermenters and know that the majority I dose are denitrifying.
A lot of people have used MB7 and zeobak and there are others, which have helped to reduce nitrate and phosphate in tanks.

Do they all wear nametags when you look at them under a microscope?
lol, you can get a rough idea of what types of bacteria you have by there shape under a microscope, but RNA and DNA analysis is required for more accurate identification using expensive equipment. The other method of identification is via plating at different temperatures and then working out if they are gram positive or gram negative. Again a costly process that isn't as accurate as the DNA method.

As I already stated, what's up with the rest of you guys, nothing to report?....

They work for me so far, but I'm using DIY biopellets so I know exactly whats in them.

Boy, as stated above..... way smarter than me!

But thank you for explaining it in a way that I can understand....... come to think of it, this hobby really spiraled out of control for you huh............ I know people who grow their own food, but you took it to a whole other level.........

Growing your own bacteria AND making your own pellets?!! .....:eek1:

Sorry, but I think your a "reefaholic" :lmao:

And thank you for letting me know that the pellets are working for you.

Ivan

 

[tntneon]

Hi,

I haven't used the basic zeo 4 as the pellets take care of that.

I have been slowly introducing the rest of the additives though.

Mo

Hi Moser ,

Can you tell us wich other zeo products they are ?
I thought you added some zeostones to your BP reactor , is something that also wanna try.
Then you have the food (bp) / and best surface material (zeostones) in close proximity of each other and the stones can have and increassed abbrasive effect on the pellets.
Don't know if this would lead to even better results (as they are very good...) , but i'm i guy who can stop experimenting (with patience ).

greetingzz tntneon

 

[jlinzmaier]

Growing your own bacteria

It's actually quite easy and bacterioplankton are a great food source for filter feeding animals.

Jeremy

 

[daveonbass]

diy biopellets...?

 

[philbo32]

diy biopellets...?

I have made my own starch plastic biopellets, they breakdown quicker than the PHA and PLA plastics. So I only need to use about 30mL in a reactor for my 380L system. I am refining the method using fillers and a mixed types of glucose to stop them from absorbing moisture and to slow down the rate at which they breakdown. I started a thread about 9 months about making them, will have to do some updating to it shortly. The types of fillers and how the plastic is made are a lot safer IMO as I know exactly whats in there and choose more environmentally friendly ingredients.

 

[Rwpdunne]

Hi Moser ,

Can you tell us wich other zeo products they are ?
I thought you added some zeostones to your BP reactor , is something that also wanna try.
Then you have the food (bp) / and best surface material (zeostones) in close proximity of each other and the stones can have and increassed abbrasive effect on the pellets.
Don't know if this would lead to even better results (as they are very good...) , but i'm i guy who can stop experimenting (with patience ).

greetingzz tntneon

Zeovit dont recommend running pellets with the basic 4 if your going to run Zeovit you dont need pellets nor do you need gfo:thumbsup:

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

So 115 pages, ive read/skimmed about 30 pages randomly looking for a solid opinion either way. Can we get some cliffs here? All i can seem to find are snapshots of arguments lol...

 

[izzy123]

It's actually quite easy and bacterioplankton are a great food source for filter feeding animals.

Jeremy

Well, to tell you the truth, it doesn't sound easy.....

You guys are out of control.... :eek1:

The only bacteria I can grow involves not washing myself for a week! :lolspin:

Still, I love to pick the brains of guys as expierienced and smart as you....

But I think I should learn how to stand before I learn how to fly....

Thanks

Ivan

 

[izzy123]

So 115 pages, ive read/skimmed about 30 pages randomly looking for a solid opinion either way. Can we get some cliffs here? All i can seem to find are snapshots of arguments lol...

Well, to tell you the thruth, the whole thread lost a bit of it's initial appeal IMO.

there are a lot of "betatesters" who I haven't heard from for a while..... too bad tho.

But, I guess they got a bit tired of all the arguments over here

 

[anen]

I have np biopellets running on a tank for about six months now. I started the tank with them. First 2 weeks I dosed mb7 until I ran out. It's a 40 breeder, 29g sump, TLF150 reactor filled about 1/3 full running on a mj1200.

The pellets still look the same way they came out of the bag, same size, same color. I have had undetectable nitrates but had to add GFO and a chaeto fuge to bring my nitrates down. I never noticed any bacterial bloom, and I don't see any stringy bacteria or anything like that.

Based on this would you say the pellets are working?

If so how can I get them to bring down the phosphates? Add more?
If they're not working, any suggestions how get them going?

 

[DarkXerox]

Well I started my N/P pellets (new formula) in the tank about a week ago. Didn't see any growth of bacteria, even when taking them out and putting them in a jar with flake food and tank water for a couple weeks before actually starting them on the tank. They're running in a TLF 150 reactor with 100mL of pellets on a 30g system. Nitrates were 5mg/L before starting with phosphates detectable but not high (salifert kits). I kept some samples (0.3um filtered and unfiltered) at -20C that I'll run on an HPLC (IEX) when I get a chance to have more accurate results.

All of a sudden this morning...huge bloom. Skimmate is white/pinkish and the LPS look somewhat closed up, while the SPS are open as usual. Fish have typical big appetites.

The big difference? I added 1 gallon of natural sea water yesterday evening since we do NSW changes on our 90g system and I was too lazy to mix up 1 gallon of salt mix. I haven't used NSW on my tank in over a year and I'm starting to think that whatever strains that were dominant in my tank went through some sort of succession and new opportunistic strains took over.

All speculation of course, but the timing was suspicious.

 

[mm.reefs]

Well, to tell you the thruth, the whole thread lost a bit of it's initial appeal IMO.

there are a lot of "betatesters" who I haven't heard from for a while..... too bad tho.

But, I guess they got a bit tired of all the arguments over here

1+ :thumbsup:

 

[bluereefs]

Well, to tell you the thruth, the whole thread lost a bit of it's initial appeal IMO.

there are a lot of "betatesters" who I haven't heard from for a while..... too bad tho.

But, I guess they got a bit tired of all the arguments over here

I am not quite sure did I belong to "betatesters" or not but in case I belong to them here is my short update.
BP right now work excellent, everything stabilize, nitrates are 1 mg/lit , in the begining they was 100 mg/lit. Skimmer colect every day big amount of stinky (very very stinky) skimmate and is cleaned daily, filter socks are cleaned every 48 hours, they get cloged with bacteria. No bacterial bloom, water transparency is excellent, no bad issue with corals whatsoever, all are open, PE are excellent, I dump loots of food in aquarium daily and nitrate did not rise... now they work as they should work.

Did not post latelly because I take care of nitrates what was my main issue last few months, now I take care of second issue: aiptasia infestation, get zapper from PaulB (thread: electrocuting majano) and zapping almost all aiptasia in last few days. Highly recomend this device, is number one invention in reef keping history ,lol

Second there was question here, mostly with Dave trouble where I simply can not help, dont know the answer for his trouble so there is no reason to post.